Military interval swagger stick



Feb. 2, 1960 L. D. HANSEN MILITARY INTERVAL SWAGGER STICK Filed Dec. 28, 1956 INVENTOR. LORENZO D. HANSEN nited States Patent 2 ,623,665 MILITARY INTERVAL sv'v'Aee'ER srrck Lorenzo D. nausea, Tacoiii'a, Wash. Application December 28, 1956',Seri'alfNo. 631*,244

i or. 33 461 This inventionrelats to iiripfdvdments in swagger sticks and :hasfor its mainrobject provision of a swagger stick capable of being used in the ordinary manner and having the general outward appearance and balance of a conventional swagger stick but provided with means permitting predetermined extension of length thereof by which to gauge the interval between ranks in a military formation. The invention is herein illustratively described in its presently preferred form but it will be recognized that certain modifications and changes therein with respect to details may be made without departing from the essentials of the invention.

The use of swagger sticks is a military custom. They are carried by oflicers during drills and parades. Other than its limited value as a pointer or the like the conventional swagger stick is primarily a symbol or vestment of command having no particular utilitarian value.

The present invention is directed to provision of an improved swagger stick which does have utilitarian value, particularly so with respect to the constant problem of training military personnel to drill and parade with the proper interval maintained between ranks. While a skilled drill leader develops considerable judgment as to the determination of a 40 inch interval, many new officers and even many of the more experIenced ones lack that judgment and even when possessing it would prefer to demonstrate authoritatively and visually to the men the required spacing for a 40 inch interval. The present invention provides a convenient means incorporated in or comprising the improved swagger stick for quickly gauging a 40 inch interval. It also permits quickly reconverting the swagger stick to its conventional compact length (i.e., slightly under two feet) and form for ordinary usage.

Features of the invention reside in the improved swagger stick construction, including the slide rod incorporated therein together with elements supporting and guiding the same for withdrawal from the stick body to a predetermined limited extent whereby the-total combined length thereof represents the required interval distance, as will hereinafter more fully appear from the following description based on the accompanying drawmgs.

Figure 1 is a side view of the stick in its preferred form.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the improved swagger stick.

Figure 3 is a side view of the improved stick at a reduced scale, with the slide member fully withdrawn for gauging military interval.

Referring to the drawings, the elongated stick body is preferably formed of hardwood and comprises a tip end 12 having an ornamental knob 14, and a butt end 16 formed as a handle. The handle portion 18 is of uniform diameter and is terminated by an annular demarcation rib 20. The stick tapers in diameter gradually from the rib 20 to the tip knob 14 and the butt end is weighted. The resulting balance of the stick adapts it for manipulation as a swagger stick. For purposes of the invention the length of the stick body is preferably substant ally that of the conventional swagger stick, namely just under 24 inches.

7 The stick body 10 has a longitudinal bore 22 which extends from the butt end thereof along the axis of the stick to a point near the tip. This bore could extend throughout the full length of the stick but it is preferred that it terminate short of the tip so that the latter forms a closure for the bore at the end of the stick. The stick also has a counterbore 24 of materially larger size than the bore 22. A metal or equivalent annular fitting 26, providing a substantial proportion of the weighting of the butt end of the stick is pressed into the counterbore 24 and held therein by friction or otherwise. reinforcing metal band 28 pr essed onto the butt end of; the stick precludes the possibility of it splitting during forcible insertion of the fitting 26. This reinforcing band may be of brass, chromium or other ornamental metal providing a finishing touch to the appearance of the stick.

The fitting 26 has a bore 30 extending through it axially, and is counterbored and threaded at itsouter end. The fitting 26 has an enlargement 32 which presents a shoulder serving as a stop engageable with the butt end of the stick body to limit the penetration of the fitting into the counterbore 24.

An elongated slide rod 34 of slightly smaller diameter than the bore 30 in the fitting 26 slides freely therein and on its end to be inserted into the stick body carries an enlargement in the form of a washer 36 held by a screw 38 threaded into the end of the rod. The washer 36 has a diameter slightly smaller than that of the bore 22 so that the wall of the latter serves as a guide for the inner end of the slide rod, during withdrawal and insertion movement thereof during use of the stick. A knob or head 40 is carried by the opposite end of the slide rod 34. An enlargement 42 on that end of the slide rod adjacent the knob 40 is threaded to engage the counterbore threads in the fitting 26. Such engagement, effected by turning the knob 40, holds the slide rod securely inserted in the stick body and as an effective integral part thereof during normal use of the swagger stick as such. However, by opposite rotation of the knob 40 such screw threads are disengaged, permitting withdrawal of the slide rod from the stick body to the point established by contact between the enlargement or washer 36 and the inner end wall of the fitting 26, as shown in Figure 3. In this fully withdrawn position of the slide rod, the combined or total length of the stick body and extended slide rod represents the required military interval which is normally 40 inches.

It will therefore be evident that the invention provides a swagger stick having the usual features and appearance of conventional swagger sticks with the additional utilitarian advantage of an extensible element by which to gauge the required military interval for parade and drill practice usage, so that the military leader may better perform his function and so that the men in the ranks may better gauge and remember visually the distance which represents the required interval between ranks.

Having described the invention by reference to its preferred form, it will be evident that certain modifications thereof may be employed and certain changes made in respect to details without departing from the essential features involved.

I claim as my invention:

A military interval extensible swagger stick comprising, in combination, an elongated stick body having a relatively large butt end and a smaller tip end, said stick body tapering in diameter along a major portion of its length in the direction from said butt end toward the tip end, said stick body having an axially extending bore therein opening endwise through said butt end, said butt than said axially extending bore, a relatively heavy metal sleeve fitting fixedly received in said counterbore end and having a central longitudinal bore therein aligned with and smaller than the axially extending bore in the stick body, the outer end of said sleeve fitting bore in turn being counterbored and threaded, an elongated slide rod extending slidably through said fitting and into the stick body bore, said slide rod being slightly smaller in diameter than said sleeve fitting bore, an enlargement fixed on the inner end of said slide rod, larger in diameter than the bore in said sleeve fitting and slightly smaller in diameter than said stick'bodybore, and a relatively large knob means fixedly mounted on the projecting outer end of said slide rod, said knob means having a reduced threaded 15 portion at the juncture thereof with the slide rod, said reduced threaded portion comprising an enlargement on the slide rod and being threaded for engagement with the threads in the sleeve fitting counterbore, disengagement of saidthreads permittingretraction of said slide 4 rod to a limiting position established by abutment of the slide rods inner-end enlargement with the inner end of the sleeve fitting at a predetermined extended stick length corresponding to military interval spacing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 62,756 King Mar. 12, 1867 10 341,715 Allen May 11, 1886 414,903 Godillot Nov. 12, 1889 448,016 Fuchs Mar. 10, 1891 458,944 Cooper Sept. 1, 1891 945,491 Darnell Jan. 4, 1910 1,003,626 Malcolm Sept. 19, 1911 1,339,257 Callahan May 4, 1920 1,583,585 'Emery May 4, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS j 20 673,551

France Qct. 8, 1929 

